Santa Barbara, California - California gubernatorial candidate Dr. Butch Ware of the Green Party has backed legislation to establish a state agency to administer , while criticizing Democrat Gavin Newsom for undermining efforts toward justice.
Green Party gubernatorial candidate Dr. Butch Ware has backed legislation to establish a California American Freedmen Affairs Agency to administer reparations. © IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire
"Refusing to endorse reparations is an endorsement of the initial harm," Ware on Thursday.
"You cannot actually oppose America's enslavement, exploitation, and oppression of Black people AND oppose reparations for the descendants of American Freedmen," the 2024 Green Party vice-presidential nominee continued. "If you regret the harm, you move to rectify."
Ware – who has launched a in 2026 – went on to criticize the notion that it's too late for reparative justice.
"People always talk about '40 acres and a mule' in the past tense, as a broken promise and/or missed opportunity. But this country could pay its debt & level the wealth gap produced by US slavery in any period," the UC Santa Barbara associate professor wrote.
"Reconstruction was the first opportunity – every generation since has had the same chance."
California Governor Gavin Newsom has faced sharp criticism for vetoing a key reparations bill in September 2024. © MARIO TAMA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP
Ware then took aim at Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom for that had passed with resounding support out of the state legislature. The 2024 measure – – sought to establish a mechanism for restoring property seized through race-based uses of eminent domain to the original owners or their descendants, or alternatively providing them with financial compensation.
"The Democrat establishment endorses the harm. Newsom lies when he says reparations is 'unimplementable,'" Ware wrote.
The third-party gubernatorial hopeful endorsed a bill – – to establish a California American Freedmen Affairs Agency with its own Genealogy Office and Office of Legal Affairs to support reparations claims.
The in February came after lawmakers last session – championed by former State Senator Steven Bradford – to create such an agency.
Newsom, who last September signed a formal apology for California's legacy of enslavement and discrimination against Black residents, is now in his second term as governor and ineligible for reelection in 2026.
For Ware, there should be no more delay in delivering on tangible repair. "40 acres and a mule. Pay up," he demanded.
